Chapter 3 - The Price of PrideClaire struggled to sit up, her body shaking with the effort. “You shouldn't be here, Blake. You have your world. I have… this.”
“This?” Blake gestured to the poverty-stricken room, his voice rising. “Isla is six! You have a daughter, Claire! And she’s out there selling fruit at a traffic light because you’re dying and you didn't think I deserved to know?”
Claire’s eyes hardened, a flicker of the old fire he once loved igniting in their depths. “You didn't deserve to know. The man I married was a ghost, Blake! A man who loved balance sheets more than his wife. You were so busy climbing that you didn't see me falling. I didn't leave because I stopped loving you. I left because you forgot how to be human.”
Isla moved between them, her eyes wide with fear. “Are you fighting?”
Blake immediately fell silent, his face crumpling. He knelt by the sofa, reaching out but not daring to touch her. “I’m not the same man, Claire. I’ve spent seven years being punished by my own success. But I’m here now. I have the best doctors in the country, the best facilities. We’re going to fix this.”
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“It’s not just money, Blake,” she whispered, her eyes softening as she looked at Isla. “It’s a heart condition. Congenital. It’s been killing me since Isla was born. I didn't tell you because I didn't want your pity. I didn't want you to love a dying woman.”
“I don't love a dying woman,” Blake said, tears finally spilling over. “I love you.”
